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Dave and I have decided to take part in L’Etape du Tour, actually we didn’t decide, my lovely wife Al entered me and Dave enthusiastically agreed to join me (Dave wants it known that he takes exception with the words “enthusiastically agreed”).
Our sponsorship funds are going to Ward 5A, Yorkhill which is the specialist Heart Ward where many children are treated for serious cardiac problems.
The funds raised will be paid to Ward 5A via the Yorkhill Children’s Foundation (YCF - www.yorkhillchildrensfoundation.org).
To explain L’Etape du Tour I need to refer to the Tour de France. The Tour de France takes place in July each year and consists of 21 stages, the Tour organising committee designate one stage of the Tour to be ridden by amateurs as well as Tour Professionals, this stage is called L’Etape du Tour. The amateurs and professionals ride the exact same route although they ride it on different days.
There are 8,500 places for L’Etape du Tour, 6,000 for French residents and 2,500 for cyclists from the rest of the world.
The 2008 L’Etape du Tour takes place on 6th July and is from Pau to Hautacam in the French Pyrenees, covering 169km and two little hills! The profile is shown on the left along side a photo of Finlay Johnston (fellow cyclist and one of the many recipients of the skills of Ward 5A). Just click on the small photos to see them full size.
The L’Etape du Tour replicates in every way the actual Tour Stage from Pau to Hautacam which the big boys will do on 14th July, i.e. the roads are closed, and medical/bike back-up is provided.
We are both relatively fit but are by no means top league cyclists, as evidenced by the fact that Dave’s mummy had to buy him a bike for his Christmas in order for him to take part! Therefore all donations are on the basis that we will try our best to complete the course, normally the failure rate is at least 25% (although in 2007 it was a particularly tough course and the failure rate was 38%!). Failure is caused in most cases by an official making you rip your dossard (match number) off because you’re not keeping up the pace, an act of humiliation according to the etiquette of the sport! Of course some riders also get hit by motorbikes or go flying over hairpin bends! (Al could be a rich woman!)
More information on L’Etape du Tour can be found in www.letapedutour.com
Thank you in advance for your support
Chris (and enthusiastic Dave)
UPDATES BY AL :
14 June 2008 - L’Etape Caledonia – Chris and Dave took part in the 81 mile race around Pitlochry on 18 May 2008. This was a great way to give themselves a small taste of what is still to come in July , a sort of fun run to the marathon that is L’Etape du Tour!
At registration Chris was like a wee boy on Christmas Eve as the French Mavic boys checked out his bike, I had to tell him to stop grinning. I also refused to translate into French for him the words “my back wheel is rubbing a bit”!
Dave took full advantage of the trial run to try out all the things that could go wrong in the big race, i.e. being involved in crashes, getting injured and having a passionate debate with a fellow cyclist about who had right of way. However in true Tour style he finished the race within the time limit in a very respectable 6 hours. His wounds are healing nicely and he will be fit and raring to go in the Pyrenees!
Chris joined the wee frees the night before the race and only drank mineral water in our hotel, while fellow competitors from Yorkshire were on their third pint! I was no help as I had a glass of champagne and half bottle of Chablis!
Chris got up at 4.30am and started force feeding himself pasta at 5.00am, I then drove him to the start, the day was beautiful if a little cold (clear blue skies and 1.5 degrees), the scenery was stunning and I’m sure all non-Scottish competitors will be raving about the views for some time to come.
Chris thoroughly enjoyed his first experience of riding in a bunch although may have to work on tactics for the big race. He was 775th at the first check point, 441st at the second checkpoint and 619th at the finish line. His finishing time was 4 hours 26 minutes and 11 seconds, a great time for a first attempt. He beat Finley Mickel the Great Britain skier by half an hour, he now assures me that Finley is “in his pocket”!
18 June 2008 – Chris has just purchased even more bike equipment from Dales, today it was whizzy new racing wheels, he will be surrounded by a lot of cycling bling in July. Dave is still keeping it real!
4 July 2008
Caught the 0705 flight out of Gatwick to Toulouse, as BA carry bikes for free we were worried about the amount of cyclists on board and the ability of the hold to take a higher than average number of bikes. We were right to be worried! As we waited in the departure lounge we watched our fellow passengers arrive, praying for fat families and elderly people, alas no, we were faced with slim athletic types carrying bike helmets and reading copies of cycling weekly!
The flight was delayed for over an hour, once on board our captain explained that when they looked at the manifest at 0500am they panicked as they realized 73 bikes had been checked-in, BA then decided to swap the plane for a bigger one to give them a fighting chance, they did really well, getting 52 of the bikes on board, did they have ours?
We arrived at Toulouse and jumped for joy as the bike bags were among the last to be unloaded.
Picked up the hire car no problem and headed for our B&B, we arrived in brilliant sunshine and after dumping our luggage headed for a day by the pool, 28 degrees with great views of the Pyrenees from the pool.
5 July 2008
We headed into the start village at Pau Race Course, it was mobbed with thousands of cyclists, the boys spent a lot of money on new cycling tops. They registered and received their race numbers and transponders. In addition they received some good quality freebies, a back pack, Nike souvenir t-shirt and water bottle.
They of course had to have their bikes checked over by the Mavic boys, this service is free but in true Scottish style the boys gave their Mavic mechanics money for a beer.
Everything was now set for the big day, well everything except the weather.
6 July 2008
We didn’t get a lot of sleep as the thunderstorm started about 0230, it was still continuing as the boys got up at 0400, they had breakfast at 0430 which included several plates of frosties, obviously trying to get that tiger in their tank!
At 0500 the taxi arrived to take them to the start village where they had coffee and biscuits, well Chris had coffee, Dave doesn’t drink the stuff and was a bit miffed that they didn’t have hot chocolate for the non-coffee drinkers! Because of the treacherous weather the organizers slowed down the start which meant that the boys with their high start numbers started late, something that would not be taken into account in later elimination times.
I set off at 0945 to reach the bottom of Hautacam, at 0958 Chris phoned to say he was at the feed stop in Lourdes, I looked at the official booklet and saw that he was 8 minutes within the elimination time! I curbed the urge to shout “EAT UP”.
Just after 1100 I got a call from Dave to say that he had been eliminated just before Lourdes, he tried to ignore the officials at first but then a gendarme told him in no uncertain terms to dismount, he was taken by bus to the end village of Lau-Balagneres where to add insult to injury he was dope-tested!
I caught up with Dave in Lau-Balagneres just after 1200, at about 1300 we made our way to the bottom of the Hautacam to wait for Chris, there were hundreds of supporters at the same spot, the crowd contained only two big flags and strangely enough both were Saltires, this seemed to give a big boost to the few Scots that cycled past. The elimination time for this point was 1505, Chris appeared at 1440, he looked awful and said he could barely keep turning the pedals, his knees were frozen from the descent of the Tourmalet, he wasn’t sure if he could make it up Hautacam, I was worried but Dave offered a positive “piece of piss to you mate..” At this he set off up the Hautacam.
Dave and I walked back to Lau-Balagneres where we could watch the action at the top of the Hautacam on a big screen. Dave and I were cold at Lau-Balagneres but this was nothing compared to the poor souls cycling in the cloud at the top of Hautacam.
At 1630 Chris phoned to say he had made it, cue relief all round. He was given a medal and had to wait at the top with many others to be given permission to descend. Of the 8500 that started that morning 6178 finished, Chris finished in 5093rd position in a time of 8 hours 56 minutes and 47 seconds, not bad for a first timer. 30% of those that started failed to finish.
That night Chris and I went for a quick one course meal in the nearby village, we were both practically asleep as we ate, he had one beer I had one glass of rose, we went straight home and slept the sleep of the exhausted.
7 July 2008
A long lie and a lazy day.
Before we started both boys said this would be their one and only L’etape, already they’re weakening! Dave’s quote was “I’m not a 3 in10 person…” and Chris’s was “Well if Dave’s doing it…….” AAAAH
Well done to both of them
And also well done to Finlay Johnston who was admitted to Ward5A while the boys were still in France, he had a big 5 hour heart operation last Wednesday and is currently making a good recovery back on the ward. I know both boys would quite happily admit that Finlay is the real brave soldier. The nursing support team on the ward is currently prioritising what they would like to buy with all the money raised, they were needless to say highly delighted with the monies raised.
Photos of the trip can be found by clicking on one of the photos on this page, this will take you to the flickr site where you will find many more.
Support team now officially signing off.
Al